Have you ever considered what the aim of the game is? Okay, no prizes for guessing... the aim of the game is to get the ball in the hole, in the least number of shots possible. Right?

Well, it's not that simple... The aim of the game is whatever you want it to be. It's your choice entirely. You could even have several aims! For example the aims of your game could be to hit the ball as far as you can at every possibility (I think a lot of us have that one :) ), whilst trying to make a low score at the same time. As you can see, some aims compromise each other... I think we all know that busting a nut trying to put an extra 10 yards on your drives is not conducive to low scores. Good course management relies on knowing what you are trying to achieve.

Another example of a common aim is to look good in front of your buddies, or impress your boss, and this does not necessarily mean making the lowest score possible. For example, around the green it's much more impressive to hit a spectacular flop shot that stops dead on the green like a pancake, even though a simple chip shot would get you up-and-down more often.

So, do you have more than one aim? I know I can raise my hand at this point. There are times when I have compromised score for showing off how far I can hit the ball, or taking on a risky shot for the fun of it, rather than playing the percentage shot. I know I'm not the only one to walk into the clubhouse saying that I shot X score, and it would have been so much better without those 3 double bogeys. How unfair those double bogeys were! In reality, two of those doubles were probably the result of having compromised aims. I went for an ambitious shot where I really didn't need to (just to see if I could) and wasted shots were the result. If you have compromised aims, don't come crying to me when you're not shooting the scores you could be.

There is one thing we can be certain of here: the person with the lowest score wins the tournament. The only thing that your club/county/state/international team selectors care about is the eighteen numbers on your card. So, how much do you want to win? How much do you want to lower your handicap? You have to make a decision. If you do decide that your aim is to make the lowest scores possible then you'll be very welcome at this site.

The tour pros already know all this and they are the best because of it. Yes, they have incredible natural ability, but so do a lot of people. What separates the best from the very good all stems from their commitment to posting lower scores. That is their only objective, they are motivated to do it and they base their training and game improvement strategies around it. They will analyse their games to uncover every possible area that they can improve, in order to consistently shoot lower scores. (Note: most will therefore spend a lot more time practicing short game than long game).

Since Tiger Woods came along the tour pros have taken their dedication to lower scores to a whole new level. Everything they do in their lives is now a part of improving their golf. From nutrition and exercise, to sleep patterns... anything to lower their average score by 0.1. Of course you can cut whole chunks off your average score very easily.

So, make your decision now. What do you want?